"The communities secretary, John Denham, has promised to make changes to the anti-extremism programme Prevent after Islamic groups accused it of stigmatising all Muslims as terrrorists and even spying on them. Haroon Siddique talks to participants on one of the schemes, the Digital Disruption project, about the value of what they are learning."

It will be interesting to track the progress of this centre, and to see what events and publications emerge. They have an Advisory Board that includes John Esposito (Georgetown University), Tim Niblock (University of Exeter) and Muhammad Abdul Bari (from the Muslim Council of Britain)

BBC News, Muslim Driving School: Driving with the veil "Muslim Driving School gives an insight into the lives of Muslim women learner drivers, their instructors and families." This is on BBC Two at 2200 GMT on Tuesdays, and on iPlayer. I saw it for the first time last night.

Adam Barnard, Guardian, Children create cross-cultural harmony, 12 Jan 2010 "The children of Shirley Manor, a primary school in a run-down part of Bradford, an area far-right activists call a powerbase, are stunned. They have just returned from a visit to a school in another part of Bradford, where almost every pupil is Asian. "But actually, they like pizza," the children report. "And they watch television. And one has an Xbox!"" Just found this article: well worth reading.

Monday, 18 January 2010

"From Friday 5 March - Thursday 18 March 2010 the 7th Annual Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace, MESP 2010, will bring together people from a wide range of spiritual backgrounds, people working with peace, conflict, reconciliation and justice, educators, teachers, scholars and students, people from artistic and cultural backgrounds, people working with health, wellbeing and healing experiences and concerns, people from diverse cultures, traditions and communities, and people from across Scotland and internationally." Details: Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace Festival

I had a quick look for the report on their website - nothing yet (will update). However, see islamicresearcher.com, “Fatwa” against terrorists, 5 Dec 2009 "Islam does not permit, under any circumstances, the massacre of innocent citizens, terroristic explosions and suicide bombings. The continuous carnage and slaughtering of people, suicide bombings against innocent and peaceful communities, explosions at mosques, shrines, educational institutions and businesses; the destruction of government institutions, buildings, trade centers; attacks on defense training centers, embassies, transports systems and other institutions of civil society; all these acts are grave violations of human rights and constitute kufr, disbelief, under Islamic law. The founder and patron in chief of Minhaj-ul-Quran International, and Chairman of Pakistan Awami Tehreek, Shaykh-ul-Islam, Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri issued his detailed edict (fatwa) today, consisting of 200 pages, while addressing a press video conference from Canada."

Monday, 4 January 2010

"As more than 190,000 people signed an internet petition objecting to the march, Anjem Choudary said he had chosen to protest in the town - renowned for honouring soldiers killed in Afghanistan - because it would attract 'maximum attention'."

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About the Islam in Britain blog

This blog is a series of feeds and links to information relating to Islam and Muslims in Britain. It's part of virtuallyislamic.com. Earlier feeds in the Virtually Islamic blog on related areas can be found here. Follow my Twitter feed (@garybunt) here for regular updates on blog posts. I'm also active on Facebook.

I have a related chapter on Muslims in Britain and the internet in Postcolonial Media Culture, Rinella Cere & Ros Brunt (editors), (Palgrave, 2011).

Some of the content of this blog links into the MA Islamic Studies at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (previously the University of Wales, Lampeter) - specifically the Islam Today module. It also links into my level 5 undergraduate module Islam in the West.

Inclusion of headlines, links and comments does not imply endorsement by Gary R. Bunt. Links are for information purposes only.